Medical jet crash in Philadelphia kills six Mexican nationals

A medical jet carrying six Mexican nationals crashed into a busy neighborhood in Philadelphia on Friday, authorities confirmed, marking another devastating US aviation incident following a midair collision earlier this week between a passenger plane and a military helicopter in Washington.

Video footage from the scene showed the Learjet 55 — an American-French business jet — descending sharply toward a residential area before crashing and igniting a massive fireball. Wreckage was scattered across homes and vehicles in the vicinity. The aircraft had taken off from Northeast Philadelphia Airport, bound for Branson, Missouri.

The crash tragically claimed the lives of a young girl, her mother, and members of the flight and medical teams accompanying her. The girl had been in the U.S. for medical treatment and was being transported back to Mexico on a contracted air ambulance. Shriners Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia, where the patient had been receiving care, confirmed the fatalities.

The Mexican Foreign Ministry identified all six passengers and crew onboard as Mexican nationals. The air ambulance operator, Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, confirmed the loss of two passengers and four crew members, but stated that no survivors had been confirmed at the time.

Emergency responders rushed to the scene outside Roosevelt Mall in Northeast Philadelphia, a commercial strip with shops and eateries. Witnesses reported seeing disturbing scenes, including body parts near the wreckage. Local officials, including Philadelphia City Council member Mike Driscoll, expressed concern that residents or passersby on the ground might also have been killed. Driscoll called the situation “sad,” noting that it “doesn’t look good.”

U.S. President Donald Trump expressed his sorrow for the victims on his Truth Social platform, calling the tragedy heartbreaking and praising first responders. “God Bless you all,” he wrote.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has initiated an investigation into the crash, with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) also involved.

This incident comes just days after a deadly crash in Washington, D.C., involving an American Airlines subsidiary passenger jet and a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter. The two aircraft collided midair on Wednesday as the airliner, with 64 people onboard, was landing at Reagan National Airport. The helicopter, which was on a training mission, was also carrying crew members.

Search efforts continued Friday in the frigid waters of the Potomac River, where at least 41 bodies had been recovered. Investigators had already retrieved the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder from both the helicopter and the Bombardier jet. Although the exact cause of the crash remains unclear, officials remain hopeful that the data will provide crucial insights.

Meanwhile, President Trump made political comments on the Washington crash, suggesting the military helicopter was at fault and criticizing his political opponents, claiming without evidence that previous administrations had hired “the wrong people.” His remarks were widely criticized by aviation experts, including Chesley Sullenberger, the pilot who famously landed a disabled plane in the Hudson River in 2009.

The collision in Washington marked the deadliest U.S. aviation disaster in over a decade, the first since 2009, and the worst since the 2001 American Airlines crash in Belle Harbor, New York, which killed 260 people. Among the victims of the Washington crash were several U.S. skaters and coaches, as well as Russian and Chinese nationals.